"Our mission at ECRS is to automate the science of retail,” said Andy Voso, director of business development and strategic alliances. “Through this specific collaboration, ECRS customers who do business with UNFI will now have the ultimate ordering flexibility through the integration of ECRS proprietary, advanced features like DemandFILL and OrderAssist directly into the iUNFI platform.”

ECRS's Catapult and LogicSync-powered Gateway products are widely used today by independent natural product retailers, and when they build upon the cooperative efforts and business system integration developed and supported by UNFI and ECRS, they report lower out-of-stock rates, increased sales, lower work loads, process efficiencies, and profit growth, according to ECRS.

"ECRS continues to push the limits of technology in POS systems with visionary integration into the core of my business needs in every aspect," said Joel Patterson, owner of Nature's Green Grocer. "ECRS Gateway has taken my business further into profitability. Their drive to partner with my key suppliers, as with UNFI through their integration with the already robust iUNFI Mobile Platform, is just one more way to help me manage my business from order, to delivery, to the shelf with efficiency."

UNFI and ECRS have agreed to invest in connecting the rapidly-growing iUNFI mobile solution to the ECRS platform for the industry's first 360 degree ordering tool. By presenting valuable decision making data to the mobile device, retailers are able to make the best decisions on product replenishment right at the store shelf.

Features of the ECRS/iUNFI integration include:

Catapult OrderAssist available at the item level from the iUNFI device, for real-time order quantity suggestions based on ECRS' proven DemandFILL ordering model

View item order history and item sales history all from one screen for 360 degree item intelligence

View current item status such as On Hand and On Order quantities from iUNFI

Item-level display of shelf price and sales data

"As we continue to add value added services and capabilities to the iUNFI Mobile Platform, we are excited to partner with ECRS to further integrate our two industry leading technology platforms," said Joshua Sigel, VP, digital media UNFI. “Our partnership with ECRS is a result of us listening to our customers and our focus on providing them real-time information at the point of decision that will enable them to manage their businesses more effectively."